For Alanis Morissette, irony is 10,000 spoons when all a person needs is a knife. A new definition of irony is the Associated Students of the University of Utah decision to postpone a forum about academic freedom because they feared the event would hurt the university's ability to lobby the state Legislature for funding.
The forum, titled 'Banned at BYU,' was slated to begin Thursday, the U of U newspaper reported, and featured a series of lectures and discussions with former faculty members from BYU. But Jarred Cooley, a vice chairman of ASUU's Presenter's Office said there was a 'concern over upsetting powerful people in the community.' As a result, the event has been pushed back to October, and is now titled 'Academic Freedom at Religious Institutions.' The format is the same, they insist, but they just needed a month to change the title.
The gist of the forum is the importance of academic freedom, whether it is at a public institution or a religious institution. We agree whole-heartedly with the forum's message. After all, BYU's Web site states academic freedom is 'the freedom of the individual faculty member to teach and research without interference, to ask hard questions, to subject answers to rigorous examination, and to engage in scholarship and creative work.'
We understand there are those in the community who would scoff at this notion. After all, they only know about the high-profile incidents that have taken place at BYU over the last half-year; they are unaware that academic freedom is alive and kicking at BYU. In the interest of painting an accurate portrayal of academic freedom at a religious institute, we recommend ASUU make a special effort to invite a few more BYU faculty members.
First, invite BYU biology professor William Bradshaw, who presented scientific research on biological factors affecting homosexuality.
Next, invite Duane Jeffery, a professor of integrative biology. During the debacle on intelligent design last year, he stalwartly defended the Utah State Board of Education's decision to uphold its position on evolution. He has published professionally in various biological journals and has done extensive research on the subject of evolution.
BYU employs many BYU professors who enjoy the full privilege of academic freedom. It's a shame they aren't invited to share their insights on the subject at public forums.